23 December 2014

NPR had a nice Science Friday about a week and a half ago about the science of making cookies crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Of course, they should be fresh. But they talked about how manufacturers simulate this using multiple types of dough. Yuck, right? But it made me want cookies. Then, my friend gave me chocolate chip cookies which are truly divine, but they are a secret recipe from her husband's grandmother. So, I might be a grandma one day, I should start trying to alter cookie recipes now so by then I might be good at it like our friend Bill's grandma! But Bill actually told us his grandma's secret. Kindof. It was the same secret a colleague had awhile back. Crisco. So, today I'm trying half Earth Balance and half Butter Flavored Crisco, as a way of getting the flavor of the one and the texture advantage of the other. So far, they taste fine. I started with *the* standard recipe as my bounce-off point. I say this, because Ghirardelli and Sunspire and Nestle and Hershey (I think all 4) all boast the same recipe on the back. What a coincidence. So it must be in the public domain.